ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Coal
Coal and Mines PSUs extending best possible support in fighting Covid-19: Shri Pralhad Joshi
NALCO AND MCL to fund two dedicated Covid-19 hospitals in Odisha
National Aluminum Company  and Coal India subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Limited  will fully fund two dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in Odisha inaugurated by Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha along with Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister of Coal & Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi through Video Conferencing today. The hospitals started by Government of Odisha will be run with the help of different medical hospitals of the state.
“It is a matter of pride that PSUs of Coal and Mines Ministries have extended their best possible support to the State governments in fighting COVID-19. These hospitals with all Covid related facilities will be a great help to the people of Odisha.” Union Minister of Coal & Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi said. NALCO will fund a 200-bedded hospital set up at Nabarangpur district of Odisha whereas MCL will fund the 150-bedded hospital started at Talcher in Angul district of the state. MCL has also provided its medical college infrastructure for setting up the hospital.
“The central government has already issued guidelines to allow state governments to utilize up to 30% of the balance fund available with District Mineral Fund  to combat COVID-19. This will also help the mineral rich state like Odisha in fighting with the pandemic.” Coal and Mines Minister added.
Notably, employees of NALCO have contributed their one day salary amounting to Rs. 2.5 Crores to Odisha Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. MCL is already funding a dedicated 500-bedded Covid-19 Hospital at Bhubaneswar started by Govt. of Odisha recently. This Coal India arm has also established over 50 beds Isolation Centre at Jharsuguda district of Odisha. The company has also pressed into service the state-of-the-art equipment “Fog Cannon” to sanitise peripheral areas, besides distributing masks and alcohol-based sanitisers among coal miners and people living in and around its operations.
NALCO is a Central Public Sector Enterprise  working under Ministry of Mines  and MCL is subsidiary of Coal India Limited  working under Ministry of Coal , Government of India. NALCO contributes to production of 32% Bauxite, 33% Alumina and 12% Aluminium in India. CIL produces over 80 per cent of India’s coal output.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Commerce Ministry Meets Export Promotion Councils to Boost Exports
A meeting with export promotion councils and other key exporters was held in New Delhi today to discuss various issues being faced by exporters and examine ways by which India’s merchandise exports may reach USD 325 billion by March 2019.The meeting was chaired by Secretary, Department of Commerce, Dr. Anup Wadhawan.
India recorded growth of 13.31 per cent in overall exports  in 2017-18 over the same period last year. Overall exports stood at USD 498.61 billion in 2017-18 of which USD 303.53 billion was from merchandise exports.
After achieving a turnaround from the initial shock and reaching a peak export figure of USD 314.4 billion in 2013-14, India’s exports came under immense pressure again in the post 2013-14 period due to accentuation of the global economic and financial crisis in the second phase when countries like China also got adversely affected. However, since then concerted efforts through improved logistics, trade facilitation, increased digitization to reduce human interface and increase transparency, implementation of GST and capacity building through skilling the Government has been able to arrest the downturn affecting India.
As a result, our merchandise exports have been growing since 2016-17 for almost three years and are likely to reach a new peak in 2018-19.
In the period April to Dec 2018 in FY2018-19, merchandise exports have grown by about 10% over the same period in the previous financial year.
This has been made possible by a detailed export promotion strategy, which has been prepared by the Department of Commerce and is under implementation in consultation with and with the support of wide-ranging stakeholders, including Export Promotion Councils, exporters and financial institutions.
Ministry of Railways
Applications in response to theRFQs for PPP in Passenger Train Operations Project opened today
Ministry of Railways has received excellent response
In all 120 Applications have been received for the 12 Clusters, from 15 applicant firms
Indian Railways today opened the applications submitted by various entities in response to the RFQs for PPP in Passenger Train Operations Project.
MoR has received excellent response.In all 120 Applications have been received for the 12 Clusters, from 15 applicant firms.
It may be noted that Ministry of Railways  had invited Request for Qualifications  for private participation in operation of passenger train services over 12 Clusters comprising 140 Origin Destination pair of routes through introduction of 151 modern Trains to increase high quality trains operated on the network.
This is the first major initiative of attracting private investment for running Passenger Trains over Indian Railway Network. The project is expected to entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crores.
The private entities for undertaking the project would be selected through a transparent two-stage competitive bidding process comprising of Request for Qualification  and Request for Proposal .
The RFQ for 12 clusters were published on 01 July 2020.
MoR will expeditiously complete the evaluation of Applications and RFP documents will be made available to the qualified applicants by November 2020. MoR has targeted to award all the Clusters by February, 2021.
Details of Participation Cluster wise
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SN
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Cluster Name
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Number of RFQs received
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1
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|
Mumbai 1
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|
9
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|
2
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|
Mumbai 2
|
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12
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|
3
|
|
Delhi 1
|
|
10
|
|
4
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|
Delhi 2
|
|
12
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|
5
|
|
Chandigarh
|
|
9
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|
6
|
|
Howarh
|
|
9
|
|
7
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|
Patna
|
|
9
|
|
8
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|
Prayagraj
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|
10
|
|
9
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|
Secunderabad
|
|
10
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|
10
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|
Jaipur
|
|
10
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11
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Chennai
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|
9
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12
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Bengaluru
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11
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|
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Total
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120
Details of Participants
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SN
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Applicant’s Name
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1
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Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited
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2
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Sainath sales and Services Pvt Ltd
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3
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IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited
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4
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Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation LImited
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5
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GMR Highways Limited
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6
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Welspun Enterprises Limited
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7
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Gateway Rail freight Limited
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8
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Cube Highways and Infrastructure III Pvt Ltd
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9
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Malempati Power Private Limited
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10
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L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited
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11
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RK Associates and Hoteliers Pvt Ltd
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12
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Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarrriles, S.A
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13
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PNC Infratech Ltd
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14
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Arvind Aviation
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15
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|
BHEL
Ministry of Defence
Defence Acquisition Council approves Acceptance of Necessity for three capital acquisition proposals - two of Indian Army & one of Indian Navy - worth Rs 4,276 crore
A meeting of Defence Acquisition Council , held on January 10, 2023 under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity  for three capital acquisition proposals, amounting to Rs 4,276 crore. All the three proposals - two of the Indian Army and one of the Indian Navy - are under the Buy  category.
The DAC accorded AoN for procurement of HELINA Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated to the Advanced Light Helicopter . This missile is an essential part of weaponisation of ALH for countering enemy threat. Its induction will strengthen the offensive capability of Indian Army.
The DAC also accorded AoN for procurement of VSHORAD  missile system under design and development by DRDO. In view of the recent developments along the Northern borders there is a need to focus on effective Air Defence  weapon systems which are man portable and can be deployed quickly in rugged terrain and maritime domain. Procurement of VSHORAD, as a robust and quickly deployable system, will strengthen the Air Defence capabilities.
Further, the DAC granted approval for procurement of Brahmos Launcher and Fire Control System  for the Shivalik class of ships & Next Generation Missile Vessels  for Indian Navy. With their induction, these ships would have enhanced capability of carrying out maritime strike operations, interdicting and destroying enemy’s warships and merchant vessels.
Ministry of Science & Technology
TIFR initiative to spread awareness on Covid-19
The idea is to help disseminate information and debunk various myths that are going around
information has been provided in easy to understand format and in regional language for wider reach
Breakout of Covid-19 in Wuhan, China has now engulfed whole of the globe. Declared a pandemic by World Health Organisation, the latest count is it has spread to 204 countries. With the pandemic comes the stigma, superstitions and fear about the disease among people. One important challenge is how to make sense of extreme measures such as isolation, quarantine and lock-down. Why must we practice physical distancing? To dispel the myths and provide a basic scientific understanding of the public health measure behind the pandemic Tata Institute of Fundamental Research  come out with a package of engaging and illuminating communication materials. Researchers have created a set of multi-lingual resources  in explaining why social distancing is helpful for tackling viral outbreaks like COVID-19. The resources are based on the original simulations published by Harry Stevens in the Washington Post.
“We have launched in nine languages English, Hindi, Bengali, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Odia, Tamil and Telugu through volunteering efforts by faculties, families and students” Prof Arnab Bhattacharya, Scientist, TIFR. Soon the resource material would be released in Gujarati, Punjabi, Haryanvi and Assamese as well.
The idea is to help disseminate information and debunk various myths that are going around. The information has been provided in easy to understand format and in regional language so that it can reach to wider audiences. “The disease was emerged in abroad, but we have to explain about it to our population according to local needs, for which this vernacular content is important. We hope that the use of this material can prove effective in spreading awareness among the people,” said Dr Bhattacharya.
In the next step the team is trying to make masks by some home picked material. For this posters and videos would be released soon. The public outreach initiative by TIFR, titled ‘Chai and Why?’ a platform where scientists interact with the people through social media to debunk misinformation and explain the science behind the virus.
Ministry of Finance
More than 81% account holders are Women under Stand Up India Scheme
MUDRA:68% of loan accounts belong to women entrepreneurs
PMJDY:23.21 crore accounts out of 41.93 crore accounts belong to women
Ministry of Finance, in the past seven years has launched various Schemes which have special provisions for empowerment of women. These Schemes have financially empowered women to lead a better life and chase their dreams of being an entrepreneur.
As we are celebrating International Women’s Day , today , on 8th March 2021, we take a look at various schemes initiated by the Ministry of Financewhich have benefitted the women in India.
Stand-Up India Scheme - Stand Up India Scheme was launched on 5 April 2016 to promote entrepreneurship at grass root level for economic empowerment and job creation. This scheme seeks to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to the underserved sector of people such as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Women Entrepreneurs so as to enable them to participate in the economic growth of nation.
The objective of this scheme is to facilitate bank loans between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste  or Scheduled Tribe  borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch of SCBs for setting up a Greenfield enterprise.
As on 26.02.2021, more than 81% i.e., 91,109 accounts with an amount of Rs. 20,749 crore have been sanctioned to women entrepreneursunder Stand Up India Scheme.
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana  - PMMY was launched on April 8, 2015 for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, MFIs and NBFCs.
Under the aegis of PMMY, MUDRA has created three products namely 'Shishu', 'Kishore' and 'Tarun' to signify the stage of growth / development and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit / entrepreneur and also provide a reference point for the next phase of graduation / growth.
As on 26.02.2021, about 68% i.e., 19.04 crore accounts with an amount of Rs. 6.36 lakh crore have been sanctioned to women entrepreneurs under MUDRA scheme since inception.
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana  - PMJDY was launched on 28th August 2014. It envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension.
As on 24.02.2021, 23.21 croreaccounts, out of the total 41.93 croreaccounts opened under the scheme belong to women account holders.
RM/KMN
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Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Prime Minister to inaugurate 91 FM transmitters on April 28
In an effort to boost radio connectivity in the country, Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate 91 FM transmitters on April 28, 2023 across the country.
These transmitters are located in 18 states and 2 union territories. Akashvani also includes FM centers in Jind and Bhiwani districts of Haryana.
Special attention is being given to increase connectivity in aspirational districts and border areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Union Territories of Ladakh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
An additional two crore people will be able to benefit from the broadcast service , by extending the broadcast coverage to an area of about 35,000 sq km.
This expansion is taking place just two days before the historic 100th episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
The government is committed to increasing FM connectivity in the country. 91 new 100 watt transmitters have been installed in 84 districts of 18 states and 2 union territories of the country.
The Prime Minister strongly believes that radio plays an important role in reaching the masses. The Prime Minister launched the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program to harness the unique power of radio broadcasting to reach a wider potential audience. Today, it has reached its historic 100th episode.
FM stations of 100-100 Watts of Akashvani have also been established in Jind and Bhiwani districts of Haryana State, which will be inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 28 April 2023 at 10:30 am.
Akashvani Rohtak Deputy Director Patiram said that with the opening of these FM centers, the people of Jind and Bhiwani districts will be able to listen to the programs of Akashvani Rohtak in FM quality. There is a lot of excitement and happiness among the people of these two districts due to the opening of these two new FM Centres. He said that the opening of these centers will increase the number of listeners in Bhiwani and Jind districts and they will get to listen to quality programmes on FM.
Election Commission
5 Lok Sabha Constituencies of West Bengal to go to Polls in Third Phase Tomorrow
Kolkata, April 22, 2019
In the third phase of General election, 116 Lok Sabha constituencies across 13 States and two Union Territories, including five constituencies of West Bengal-Balurghat, Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Jangipur and Murshidabad will have poll tomorrow . The polling in West Bengal will start at 7 am and continue till 6 pm.
A total 61 candidates from West Bengal are contesting in this phase from 11 parties including Independent other registered parties. Out of these 61 candidates, six are women. There are 8528 polling booths in West Bengal in this phase of election. The total electoral number in West Bengal in this phase of poll is 8,023,846. The number of male voters is 4,106,010, the number of females, 3,917,624 and third gender 212.
The Additional Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, Shri Sanjoy Basu recently stated that more than 92 per cent of the booths in West Bengal will be provided with Central Armed Police Force in the third phase of election.
The Special Observer, Shri Ajay V Nayak too stated that West Bengal is progressing in a positive manner and things are improving in terms of election management and overall conduct of election process.
The Commission has already impressed upon all the observers to remain on constant vigil and ensure that the polls are conducted in an absolutely free, fair and credible manner.
Prime Minister's Office
PM speaks to His Excellency Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke on telephone today with His Excellency Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
Prime Minister conveyed his warm congratulations to H.E. Netanyahu for his election as the Prime Minister of Israel for a sixth time, and wished him a very successful tenure.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the rapid progress in the India-Israel Strategic Partnership in recent years, and agreed on the potential for further strengthening strategic cooperation in a variety of areas.
Prime Minister invited H.E. Netanyahu to visit India at an early date.
Ministry of Electronics & IT
Indian banking system is more resilient and stronger and should be the preferred banking partner for startups: MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar
DIA can show the world what a modern-day legislation for the tech ecosystem looks like
Emphasising that Indian banking system is resilient and strong, Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said startups should therefore opt for Indian banks as their preferred banking partners.
During a fireside chat at the Lenovo Tech World India 2023, the Minister also spoke about the transfer of bank deposits worth over $200 million to GIFT City, Gujarat—a sign of the Indian banking system’s growing prominence. Special provisions available at Gift City can be a quick and impactful support for the Indian startups, he added.
“Today what is attractive about the banking system is not their appetite to take risk instead it is their prudency which makes them strong. What startups are looking for is not risk or risky instruments, instead they are looking for safe havens where capital can be deposited,” he stressed.
Speaking about India Stack, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar also announced, “in the month of May we will have the India Stack Global Conference, where we expect 7 to 8 countries to sign up and implement the India stack which are open-source, low cost, interoperable and scalable.”
When asked about the Digital India Act, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar said “We need a legal and cyber law framework that is contemporary and future ready. Disruption is the normal and innovation will push the the conversation of what is acceptable. Thus, we need laws that can keep pace with the rate of change. The DIA will be contemporary, and future proof for this ecosystem and can show the rest of the world what a modern day legislation for the tech ecosystem looks like.”
On the issue of semiconductors, the Minister said that the Hon. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji’s vision and support has been crucial for the inroads that India has made in the domain of semiconductors. “We are certainly on course to announce a fab investment and a packaging investment being approved by the Government of India.”
He also announced the setting up of the India Semiconductor Research Center, “which will create capabilities and capacities in the leading edge of research in semiconductors.”
The theme of the event was ‘Smarter Technology Empowering a Changing world’ and the event was attended by over 200 delegates who were physically present and over 2000 delegates who virtually attended the event.
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Ministry of Civil Aviation
First aircraft purchase agreement signed between GIFT city-based Vman Aviation & Airbus Helicopters under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
Today marked another significant day in the history of Indian aviation industry with the signing of first aircraft purchase order by a GIFT city  based leasing company under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan of the Government of India.
Shri Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation  presided over the signing of the purchase agreement between Vman Aviation, GIFT City, Gandhinagar and Airbus Helicopters SAS  in an event held today at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, New Delhi. Shri VishokMansingh, CEO, Vman and Mr. Remi Maillard, President, Airbus India and Managing Director, South Asia region signed the agreement. Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman AAI and Shri Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, MoCA along with other senior officials were present during the signing agreement.
Congratulating both the companies, Shri Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, MoCA said, “The aircraft purchase signing is a landmark event in the Indian aviation history. This agreement is the result of the efforts put in for the last 4-5 years to create a viable leasing & financing ecosystem in the country. This is a new business segment coming to India and the Government of India shall continue to provide all possible help to promote leasing activities in India under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.”
Under the Atman NirbharAbhiyan, GIFT IFSC, with various incentives from the government of India and low set up costs, has become very attractive for lessors. They can leverage the fast growing civil and military aviation market in India and abroad.
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Ministry of Development of North-East Region
North East Cane And Bamboo Development Council  proposes Destinated North Eastern festival under Ministry of Doner for upcoming Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
North East Cane and Bamboo Development Council , under North Eastern Council, Shillong under the Ministry of DoNER, Govt. of India involves its creativity and resource in talent scouting, training, technology sourcing, market linkage for giving a new age thrust to the age old bamboo sector. Keeping in mind the fast track changes in the global marketplace, contemporizing the traditional presentational aesthetics of bamboo end products receives our priority.
Air Marshal Shri Anjan Kumar Gogoi, Member North Eastern Council, Shillong visited North East Cane and Bamboo Development Council office, Guwahati and had a detailed discussion with Dr. Shailendra Chaudhari, Managing Director and other officers on the development of the bamboo sector.
Dr.Shailendra Chaudhari, Managing Director also apprised Air Marshal Shri. Anjan Kumar Gogoi, Member North Eastern Council on the preparation being put in place by NECBDC for the upcoming Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Destination North East Festival proposed to be held from 15th to 21st, January 2022 at Kalakshetra, Guwahati.